Inn at Biltmore Estate_award-submittal_2010 CCASLA sm

Project Name & Location: Inn on Biltmore Estate - Asheville, North Carolina
Category: 1A – General Design Over $500,000
Landscape Project Cost: $3,000,000
Quick Project Summary | Site design for a new Inn on the grounds of the Biltmore Estate that embraces
and integrate Olmsted’s principles of design for beauty, self-sufficiency and sustainability. The designers
sited the inn using computerized visual modeling and assessments along with careful site analysis
intended to emulate the way the grand residence was situated on the land and to minimize the visual
impact. The landscape architect’s challenge was to site and design a facility that protected the historic
Olmsted design and was compatible with the existing design idiom without mimicking the original
design. The Biltmore Estate currently receives approximately 1,000,000 visitors per year all of which
stay off site – a lost revenue opportunity for the property owners and a missed experience for the
visitors who would like to experience the property for more than a brief visit.
Project Context and History | In 1890, George Vanderbilt purchased 120,000 acres to build a lodge in
the Blue Ridge Mountains, land that had been denided of its forests by settlers. Vanderbilt hired
Frederick Law Olmsted, the nation’s premier landscape architect, to develop the estate and manage the
forests, and architect Richard Morris Hunt to design a 250-room house modeled after three 16th-century
French Renaissance chateaux. Eventually, the family would deed 90,000 acres of the site to the federal
government to create nearby Pisgah National Forest.
Forty years later, Biltmore House opened to the public in the midst of the Depression. The Asheville
economy had been hard hit and local officials asked the family to invite visitors in order to encourage
tourism to the area. In the years since, studies have estimated Biltmore’s economic value to the region
at hundreds of millions of dollars.
Project Purpose | The Biltmore Estate has been managed in recent decades by a for-profit cooperative
of heirs with overall objectives of sustainability and preservation. The extensive estate lands were
divided among family members in the 1970s, leaving 8,000 acres containing Biltmore House and the
designed landscape, farms and forests around it. As development increased nearby, low-end
accommodations grew up around the estate, a stark contrast to Biltmore’s beauty and refinement. At
that time, Biltmore counted about 350,000 visitors annually. The family worked to create amenities and
programs to encourage longer visits, and visitation increased dramatically. In 1996, after a 10-year
debate, they decided to build an inn that would evoke the original experience of staying at Biltmore
House, giving visitors a seamless experience of this national historic landmark and augmenting the
estate’s revenues.
Role of Landscape Architect | The landscape architect collaborated with Biltmore Estate management
to lead a team of engineers, architects and a landscape historian to create a site design that would also
embrace and integrate Olmsted’s principles of design for beauty, self-sufficiency and sustainability. The
designers helped site the inn, using extensive computerized visual assessments and careful site analysis
so that it would emulate the way the grand residence is situated on the land. Both sit on the crests of a
hill and both area approached through highly controlled landscapes that are by turns pastoral and
forested and that conceal the building until the last turn. But the siting of the inn was crucial for
another reason: It was located so that it has controlled views of Biltmore House with limited views back
to the inn and careful integration into the surrounding landscape. The inn was also designed to
reference Biltmore House in its forms, rooflines, materials and detailing.
The site chosen for the inn was a former dairy complex and pasture that set upslope from the Biltmore
Estate Winery. The design transformed it using the inspiration of the great house with formal terraces
close to the building and naturalistic landscapes farther away, including the Deer Park. Inspired by the
pastoral and picturesque styles of Olmsted’s work at Biltmore, the designers positioned carefully
calculated scenery over pasture and woodland and views to the vast forested hills beyond. The inn’s
landscape of 25 acres includes an entry drive, several informal gardens, swimming pool gardens and
terrace, a new 5-acre demonstration vineyard, converted meadows with native grasses and heavily
planted, terraced guest and employee parking. The demonstration vineyard, which grows wine
varietals, is connected by a pathway to the estate’s winery.
Special Factors | The challenge posed to the LA was to site the building in such a way that gave it
prominence in the landscape, while also being subordinate to and not detracting from the views from
the original house - which is the primary visitor draw to the property. Olmsted often used geometric
forms when creating water features. The pool is a simple ellipse with a rim flow evocative of the circular
reflecting pool on the Great Lawn of the estate. The curving stone wall of the Grand Terrace follows the
contour of the hill and recalls Olmsted’s other works. The planting list for the Inn was derived from
Olmsted’s original planting list used for the approach drive to the Estate. A particular challenge was to
site parking in a way that was invisible from the approach road and from the hotel. Parking bays were
shaped to the contours and built as tiers into the topography. Simulations insured that parking was not
seen from lodge rooms.
Significance | The project is significant because it resides within one of our national landmarks designed
by the father of our profession in the United States. The care taken to site the building, along with the
care taken to understand and interpret Olmsted’s legacy on the property created a new project that fits
naturally within the character and sense of place of the original gardens and adds to the visitor
experience and legacy of the grounds of this historic estate.
Since its opening, Inn on Biltmore Estate has earned numerous accolades, including a four-diamond
rating by AAA as well as placement on Conde Nast Traveler’s Gold List. The carefully designed setting of
approach and the inn’s landscape are pivotal elements in this praise. The inn has also been featured in
articles on Travel + Leisure and National Geographic and on NBC’s Today Show. Annually, nearly a
million people now visit Biltmore estate, which is self-sustaining with no subsidies from government or
national historic organizations. In keeping with the original principles of self-sufficiency and
sustainability, the state grows much of its own vegetables, grapes, lamb, beef and fish, and bottles its
own wine.
As a follow-up to its work on siting the inn and designing its landscape, the landscape architects created
a 20-year master plan for Biltmore Estate which aims to reinvigorate the forest preserve and the
agricultural and livestock operations, and worked with the family to plan new programming and
amenities such as river-rafting tours.

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Project Name & Location: Inn on Biltmore Estate - Asheville, North Carolina
Category: 1A – General Design Over $500,000
Landscape Project Cost: $3,000,000
Quick Project Summary | Site design for a new Inn on the grounds of the Biltmore Estate that embraces
and integrate Olmsted’s principles of design for beauty, self-sufficiency and sustainability. The designers
sited the inn using computerized visual modeling and assessments along with careful site analysis
intended to emulate the way the grand residence was situated on the land and to minimize the visual
impact. The landscape architect’s challenge was to site and design a facility that protected the historic
Olmsted design and was compatible with the existing design idiom without mimicking the original
design. The Biltmore Estate currently receives approximately 1,000,000 visitors per year all of which
stay off site – a lost revenue opportunity for the property owners and a missed experience for the
visitors who would like to experience the property for more than a brief visit.
Project Context and History | In 1890, George Vanderbilt purchased 120,000 acres to build a lodge in
the Blue Ridge Mountains, land that had been denided of its forests by settlers. Vanderbilt hired
Frederick Law Olmsted, the nation’s premier landscape architect, to develop the estate and manage the
forests, and architect Richard Morris Hunt to design a 250-room house modeled after three 16th-century
French Renaissance chateaux. Eventually, the family would deed 90,000 acres of the site to the federal
government to create nearby Pisgah National Forest.
Forty years later, Biltmore House opened to the public in the midst of the Depression. The Asheville
economy had been hard hit and local officials asked the family to invite visitors in order to encourage
tourism to the area. In the years since, studies have estimated Biltmore’s economic value to the region
at hundreds of millions of dollars.
Project Purpose | The Biltmore Estate has been managed in recent decades by a for-profit cooperative
of heirs with overall objectives of sustainability and preservation. The extensive estate lands were
divided among family members in the 1970s, leaving 8,000 acres containing Biltmore House and the
designed landscape, farms and forests around it. As development increased nearby, low-end
accommodations grew up around the estate, a stark contrast to Biltmore’s beauty and refinement. At
that time, Biltmore counted about 350,000 visitors annually. The family worked to create amenities and
programs to encourage longer visits, and visitation increased dramatically. In 1996, after a 10-year
debate, they decided to build an inn that would evoke the original experience of staying at Biltmore
House, giving visitors a seamless experience of this national historic landmark and augmenting the
estate’s revenues.
Role of Landscape Architect | The landscape architect collaborated with Biltmore Estate management
to lead a team of engineers, architects and a landscape historian to create a site design that would also
embrace and integrate Olmsted’s principles of design for beauty, self-sufficiency and sustainability. The
designers helped site the inn, using extensive computerized visual assessments and careful site analysis
so that it would emulate the way the grand residence is situated on the land. Both sit on the crests of a
hill and both area approached through highly controlled landscapes that are by turns pastoral and
forested and that conceal the building until the last turn. But the siting of the inn was crucial for
another reason: It was located so that it has controlled views of Biltmore House with limited views back
to the inn and careful integration into the surrounding landscape. The inn was also designed to
reference Biltmore House in its forms, rooflines, materials and detailing.
The site chosen for the inn was a former dairy complex and pasture that set upslope from the Biltmore
Estate Winery. The design transformed it using the inspiration of the great house with formal terraces
close to the building and naturalistic landscapes farther away, including the Deer Park. Inspired by the
pastoral and picturesque styles of Olmsted’s work at Biltmore, the designers positioned carefully
calculated scenery over pasture and woodland and views to the vast forested hills beyond. The inn’s
landscape of 25 acres includes an entry drive, several informal gardens, swimming pool gardens and
terrace, a new 5-acre demonstration vineyard, converted meadows with native grasses and heavily
planted, terraced guest and employee parking. The demonstration vineyard, which grows wine
varietals, is connected by a pathway to the estate’s winery.
Special Factors | The challenge posed to the LA was to site the building in such a way that gave it
prominence in the landscape, while also being subordinate to and not detracting from the views from
the original house - which is the primary visitor draw to the property. Olmsted often used geometric
forms when creating water features. The pool is a simple ellipse with a rim flow evocative of the circular
reflecting pool on the Great Lawn of the estate. The curving stone wall of the Grand Terrace follows the
contour of the hill and recalls Olmsted’s other works. The planting list for the Inn was derived from
Olmsted’s original planting list used for the approach drive to the Estate. A particular challenge was to
site parking in a way that was invisible from the approach road and from the hotel. Parking bays were
shaped to the contours and built as tiers into the topography. Simulations insured that parking was not
seen from lodge rooms.
Significance | The project is significant because it resides within one of our national landmarks designed
by the father of our profession in the United States. The care taken to site the building, along with the
care taken to understand and interpret Olmsted’s legacy on the property created a new project that fits
naturally within the character and sense of place of the original gardens and adds to the visitor
experience and legacy of the grounds of this historic estate.
Since its opening, Inn on Biltmore Estate has earned numerous accolades, including a four-diamond
rating by AAA as well as placement on Conde Nast Traveler’s Gold List. The carefully designed setting of
approach and the inn’s landscape are pivotal elements in this praise. The inn has also been featured in
articles on Travel + Leisure and National Geographic and on NBC’s Today Show. Annually, nearly a
million people now visit Biltmore estate, which is self-sustaining with no subsidies from government or
national historic organizations. In keeping with the original principles of self-sufficiency and
sustainability, the state grows much of its own vegetables, grapes, lamb, beef and fish, and bottles its
own wine.
As a follow-up to its work on siting the inn and designing its landscape, the landscape architects created
a 20-year master plan for Biltmore Estate which aims to reinvigorate the forest preserve and the
agricultural and livestock operations, and worked with the family to plan new programming and
amenities such as river-rafting tours.